Academic credit bank

Who is the target audience for your idea and how does it reimagine the cost of college?

Anybody can be the target audience, as long as they are willing to learn. With the bank, one can 'pay for' college using his academic credit. If one's academic credit stored meets the requirements of a certain course at a certain university, he can earn the certificate.

Higher education is no longer limited to the 4 years of campus life, instead, it can be a lifelong process. A citizen's achievements in online courses, local communities, and various independent training centres that are recognised by the bank, can be converted into academic credits according to the curriculum of different universities. These academic credits can be used to earn certificates in the universities applying this model.

What early, lightweight experiment can you try out in your own community to find out if the idea will meet your expectations?

An academic credit bank has been founded in Shanghai, China, managed by Shanghai Open University and the government. It has already gained recognition from several top universities in Shanghai.

What skills, input or guidance from the OpenIDEO community would be most helpful in building out or refining your idea?

How to connect with more universities, communities?
How to build a website or write an app to support the idea?
How to promote the idea to more people?

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An Individual

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I absolutely love this idea. I think just as much or more learning exists outside of the classroom. Such a structure would encourage students to embrace outside learning and expand the value of the degree, while saving money.